At Last
by missgolightlywrites
Summary: After ten years apart, both Finn and Rachel have become different people with their own lives. Can they now co-exist merely as neighbours and colleagues, or will old, buried and ignored feelings resurface?
1. Prologue

**A/N: **Hey, everyone! So, this is my first fic and it's being really fun to write it. I hope you all enjoy it too. Many, many thanks to _**JannP**_, for being such a lovely person and for betaing this prologue for me. And thanks a million times to _**wood-u-like-2-no**_, my awesome beta, without whom I think I wouldn't be able to pull this off. :)

**Disclaimer: **Don't own Glee or any of its characters. They're all Fox and Ryan Murphy property. This is just for fun!

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><p><strong>Prologue<strong>

Yesterday was the day Rachel Berry was supposed to move out.

She's happy she won't have to after all. Of course, she'd already made all those arrangements and undoing them is giving her difficulty, and choosing wasn't exactly _easy_. The other apartment is bigger, newer, and closer to work; but then again, the current one is much cheaper, in Jared's neighborhood, and she's got Kurt here. It's _home_.

Okay, so maybe it isn't hard to choose.

She rolls in bed and buries her face in her pillow. She can't wait to tell Kurt the big news because he's going be so thrilled. They've been living in the same building for two years now. She's spent a lot of time being miserable while picturing her life without him as her neighbor. It's been hard enough living without him for the past three weeks and they're such good friends now she probably couldn't make it in the long run without him always around.

Kurt is in London, taking a three-month long fashion course, so she's all alone. She's got Jared, sure, and Blaine is in town, but it isn't the same. So she's been dying to tell Kurt the news but figured it was much better to keep it a secret and surprise him after his return from London.

She smiles and stretches in bed, happy to see a sunny day. Once again, she thinks about Kurt and feels an urge to call him; instead, she gets up and goes to the kitchen to make some coffee. It's a daily routine she really enjoys: having a nice breakfast, reading the news, and doing yoga. During Kurt's absence she's reading both the _Times_ and the _Post_, since he forgot to cancel the delivery and she couldn't deal with the stack of paper building up in front of his door.

She holds her hair up in a ponytail while she opens the door. She reaches down for her _Times_ and stops once she straightens up and is ready to go to Kurt's door because there's this big man staring at her from across the hall with Kurt's _Post_ in his hands, and he's definitely not Kurt.

It's _HIM!_

Rachel tries to organize her thoughts but there's some activity in her stomach that won't let her concentrate. If she could put into words, it'd be something like rush-of-adrenaline-meets-gut-wrench. She wonders if maybe, _maybe_, she's delusional. It's actually a comforting thought, but that probably isn't the case because she's also pretty sure unless she's looking at a well-built clone that tall, handsome, and still boyish-looking man in front of her _is indeed_ Finn Hudson. He's breathing and making some weird and confusing faces; that's what living people do, right?

But God, _what_ is he doing_ in Kurt's apartment?_

Kurt always warns her about Finn's visits, and probably the other way around. It's always so ridiculously awkward when they meet that's almost better if they don't. With all the dodging from both sides, it's been three years since they've last seen each other face-to-face. After some quick math, she's kind of surprised by this realization. _Three entire years. That's a lot._ Anyway, that doesn't clarify what in _hell_ he's doing here. Not _visiting_ Kurt, obviously, as Kurt's still in London.

She stands there speechless, holding her _Times_ tightly and analyzing whether that nameless feeling in her stomach is growing or subsiding. She happily concludes its subsiding. Still, she can't decide if she should say something -_anything_- or hurry back inside and pretend it was all a dream. The second option seems reasonable before he talks. Hearing his voice causes another round of the weird stomach squeezing and she feels like rolling her eyes at herself for behaving like a hormonal teenager.

"I didn't expect you to be here," he says quietly. It sounds almost like an apology.

"Where did you expect me to be? This is where I live," she snaps, though she hadn't exactly planned to.

He looks confused. "Uh...well...Kurt said you were moving..."

_And to think that she was the one trying to surprise Kurt. Damn him! _

"I was. I... Kurt's not back until September. What are you...I..." she's really tongue-tied and doesn't get what he's doing there.

"I'm moving in with Kurt."

Move. In. With. Kurt.

Finn is moving in with Kurt?

Oh, _fantastic! _She thinks bitterly. Wait…what does he mean _moving in_? Like he's living inside Kurt's apartment? She's not used to being at a loss for words. Rachel Berry makes full, complete, sentences that always express exactly what she's feeling.

But now she just stutters again. "What about... I don't know... _Why…_maybe?"

He raises one eyebrow. "Um… it's only until I find some place of my own. Don't worry."

At his words, Rachel suddenly feels kind of embarrassed. One, she's demanding an explanation from her ex-boyfriend and it's not like they have _any_ kind of relationship these days. And two, she notices she's in her pajamas in front of him. Three years later when she runs into him, she's wearing a lame, cotton, teddy bear-patterned baby-doll nightgown. _Nice._ She instinctively brings the newspaper to her chest, trying to cover some of her exposed skin.

"S-sure. Sure, Finn. So, you're _moving_ to New York?" It's not exactly a pleasant thought.

"Yeah.", he moves his mouth in some kind of half-smile. "Anyway, gotta get some things done and... Nice to see you." He turns to go inside.

"Sure. Nice to see..."

Kurt's apartment door closes shut before she can't finish the sentence.

Rachel stands at her door for a few seconds, still in shock of everything, before she's able to go back inside and close it.

So, Finn..._Finn Hudson_... is moving to New York. And is settled to be her neighbor for, what, weeks? Months, maybe?

That is _so_ not expected. Can she just undo the paperwork and still move out?

The phone rings and almost scares her to death. She swears to God if it's Kurt calling, she'll yell at him until he decides to _swim_ back from London. Of course, he thinks she's already left the apartment because she hasn't told him she's staying. But didn't it cross his mind she might have to come back to the apartment for something? And what about when she visits him? Was he waiting to tell her about his roommate during some nice dinner together? She will just _kill_ Kurt if she talks to him now.

Rachel runs her hand across her face and finally picks up the phone. "Hello?"

"Hello, is this Rachel Berry?"

"Yeah, that's me." Good. Not Kurt!

"Hello, Ms. Berry, this is Helga Woods, from the real estate..."

"Oh, God! Good. I really need to ask you something..."

The woman doesn't seem to listen and continues. "...to inform you that all your paperwork is fine and you're locked into your lease for another year. Congratulations!"

Her shoulders slump. "Ah. Thank you."

That's it. She apparently just got herself a long lease and a new neighbor. Rachel hangs up and stares blankly at the door for a few seconds before she grabs her phone again and dials Kurt's number. He picks up sounding like he's chewing. "Rachel, darling! To what do I owe the pleasure of this lunch time conversation?", he answers happily.

She breathes deeply. "Kurt Hummel. I hope you have a _really_ good explanation on why you forgot to tell me that Finn was moving in with you."

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><p><strong>Reviews are love!<strong>


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: **Thank you so much for the reviews, guys! They made my day! Again, all the thank you's in the world to my dear beta, _**wood-u-like-2-no**_, for helping me in this adventure_._ :)

**Disclaimer: **Don't own Glee or any of its characters. They're all Fox and Ryan Murphy property. This is just for fun!

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><p><strong>Chapter 1<strong>

Kurt has called her 67 times now. It's been two days since her encounter with Finn at her door and she is not answering her best friend because basically she grounded him for one week for being so inconsiderate towards her. She's not really mad at him, but this whole Finn-moving-in-with-Kurt thing is not something he could keep from her. Damn, the worst part is that she knows it's partially her fault for wanting to keep that stupid surprise. She sighs. She'll deal with it. Her phone beeps and she deletes the 23rd text Kurt has sent without reading.

She calls Jared by pressing 4 on her speed dial (1 is for her dads, 2 is for Kurt, 3 is for Blaine). Rachel sits down and looks at her reflection in the mirror, and thinks she looks a little tired, but fine, anyway. She rubs her temple with one hand because she has this terrible headache and wonders if turning her cell off for the week is a suitable option. Apparently, Kurt hasn't taken the grounding really well and won't calm down until she talks to him again and mentions the words "I forgive you." Which she does, actually. But can't she just be mad of a while?

"Hey, babe."

"Hey, Jar..."

"What's wrong, Rach?"

She really loves being with Jared and hearing his voice is always soothing. But, tonight, can she just _sleep_? Is that okay? "Nothing, really. Just a really tiring rehearsal and what I'm now calling the worst headache of the century."

_I'm calling it the kiss of the century._

Rachel closes her eyes shut and thinks it'd be _so _nice if she could just stop recalling random scenes involving Finn. Since she learned that he's going to be her neighbor, she just can't stop these tiny memories from popping into her head. It's kind of annoying and she thinks she's probably just giving much more importance to the fact than it deserves. She shoos the memory away.

"Not in the mood for our dinner, I imagine…"

"No! We can surely do dinner, I'm just…"

"It's fine, honey. Really. Go home, take some aspirin and sleep a little. We can have dinner tomorrow after the show."

She would do dinner. Really. But, well, she also _could_ use some alone time in her bed.

"Tomorrow. I promise."

Is she a bad girlfriend for cancelling on him? No, no. She's not even cancelling, because it was his idea to begin with. So, she's fine. Besides, she's definitely not lying about the headache. It's really ailing her.

Rachel picks up some of her belongings that are lying scattered on the cabinet. She had thrown it all there trying to find her phone. Not something she'd usually do and now the mess is really bothering her. But it will be fine. She'll sleep. Her head will stop aching. And tomorrow, hopefully, she won't miss that easy note like she did today.

Rachel is the star of this off-Broadway show called "Summer Belle Ball". Set in the sixties, it tells the story of Helen Masterson, a dreamy teenage girl who loves to paint and ends up finding love during a high society club ball. Rachel genuinely likes the show and all her colleagues –such a lovely cast-, but it's all a big collection of pop songs from that time and she doesn't feel that she can actually showcase all of her talent singing some of them -although belting out Etta James is always an honor to her.

It smells like rain when she leaves the theater. Rachel runs to catch her train so that maybe she'll be lucky enough to get home before the summer storm. Well, that fails. She's about three blocks from the building when it starts. This particular rainstorm doesn't even give a warning. It's like someone just starts dumping full buckets of water from the sky, out of nowhere, non-stop. Rachel curses and gasps right after it, because she's still uncomfortable with the use of foul language, when she discovers herself to be without her pink polka dot umbrella. Needless to say, she is soaked when she gets home. And, though she thought it wasn't possible, her head seems to hurt more.

Literally dripping, she leaves a trail of water in the stairs and starts running through her purse for her keys. And she can't find them. She just can't. She fights the urge to just toss it all on the ground when she gets to her floor. But she won't be tossing things around again today. Instead, she kneels and makes this perfect line of little nècessaires and other objects, such as her phone, which is now beeping with yet _another_ text from Kurt, all organized by color, outside her door.

When she sees that the little purple bag containing her keys is not on the floor, not in her purse, nor anywhere else to be seen, she realizes they are probably still on her vanity at the theatre. She feels like crying. This must be one of those weeks in which the Universe runs tests on you to see if you can match crazy standards or fit in this world. If she survives this, she'll live forever. Is that it?

She starts putting things back into her purse and actually grabs her phone to call Jared to pick her up when she hears footsteps behind her. She knows it's Finn. Even after so many years she can instantly recognize his gait and the sounds he makes when walking up stairs. She thinks it's very funny that one day he catches her dressed in teddy bear patterned nightgowns and the next she's looking like she went for a dive in the pool with her clothes on. She glances quickly at him over her shoulder. Finn's much drier than her, which only intensifies her irritation. Well, at least his _shoes_ have to be soggy, right? She pretends to be cool with the fact that she's soaked and on her knees at her door, and her ex is watching her as she proceeds to arrange her little bags inside her purse again. Maybe he'll just ignore her and go inside Kurt's apartment.

"Rachel? Are you okay?"

Oh, God, she's much too embarrassed _and_ irritated to handle the whole ex lovers' awkwardness right now, but she assumes she'll have to. Rachel stands up and tries to look as confident as ever. Not that it'll effectively work, given her situation, and the fact that he's looking –she blinks at the thought- _really_ handsome in a shirt and suit.

"I'm locked out", she says, pouting a little.

Wait!

Wait.

Finn Hudson is dressed up? That's interesting. Rachel starts rambling internally for a brief moment about what his occupation would be. Last time she heard he was doing an internship at a food company.

"You're soaked", he needlessly remarks. "Let me grab you a towel or something. You might catch a cold." And he does sound concerned.

"Don't worry, Finn. I'll just go back to get my keys or sleep at… at a friend."

"Did you see that storm out there?"

She looks at herself. Yeah, she knows about the storm, obviously. He continues and starts opening the door.

"Just come on in, get yourself dry and…"

Of course! It just hits her then. "The spare keys!", she squeaks and bursts into Kurt's apartment before Finn.

**xxx**

He goes in right after her and leaves his own keys on the kitchen counter. "What spare keys?"

When he looks at her, Rachel is opening drawers and searching inside pots and he thinks she might have gone crazy over the past years. And she's getting everything wet, so, not a good thing. He goes to her and grabs her by her shoulders because she's making a _mess_. Her skin is ice cold and she is shivering a little. "Rach! Stop it for one second."

She gazes at him shortly before she softly steps back from his hands. "I gave Kurt spare keys to my apartment, just in case. I know they're here somewhere, I just can't find them."

He wonders if she has the keys to Kurt's apartment too, because that'd be a little scary. He figures she might be a little mad over the fact that they are now neighbors, not that he's particularly in love with the idea either. "Okay, where would he normally keep a key?"

"Besides the key holder in the wall, it could be in any of the places I've just looked", she sounds frustrated and squeezes her head with her hands.

"You couldn't possibly have really _looked_ for the keys. You were running around and just rummaging through stuff and…"

He regrets saying it. She puts her hands on her waist and squints. "Are you doubting my _impressive_ ability to scan surfaces and find objects?"

It's high school all over again. He's pretty sure Mr. Schue will give them an assignment in five seconds. He chooses to ignore her comment. "You're cold. I'll get you a towel."

"I'm not cold! It's like 86º out there!" She throws a hand out, pointing at the window.

"It's not 86º in here and you're really wet. So, you keep looking for your keys, I'll get you a towel."

She rolls her eyes and he goes to the linen closet in the corridor. Kurt keeps so many sheets and towels, Finn's pretty sure he could make money if he sold like half of them. What would Kurt need so much linen anyway? He picks a lilac towel, because he can't find a pink one. And he's pretty bitter about the fact that he just actually _tried_ to find a pink towel for her. He hears her growling at herself and smiles a little.

When he gets back, she's standing right beside the caramel couch, looking a little upset. She's also shaking and her lips are purple. He hesitates a little, like he's stuttering in his own movements, when he hands her the towel. "Here." She quickly winds up the towel around herself. "No luck?" he asks.

"No. I've searched _everywhere_ in the living room. I know he wouldn't keep my keys with his personal belongings, so…" she sighs and walks towards the door.

"Where are you going? Wrapped in a towel, I mean…"

She unfolds the fabric in front of her, but Finn really wishes he could help her and he definitely doesn't want her to be cold. So, he just speaks again. "I could drive you to where your keys are. You know where they are, right?" he says automatically. Then, he closes his eyes, remembering he just sold his car to move to NYC. "Or you could just call Kurt and ask him." He really thinks he's clever for bringing that up. Why hasn't she come up with the idea?

"I'm not currently talking to Kurt."

What? Seriously? Why are they not talking? Aren't they best friends? Then it dawns on him; they're not talking because of _him_. Wait, could that be right? They're not talking simply because he moved to New York? "Why? I mean, it wasn't his fault, he was going to tell you and…"

"I-I know", she cuts him off. "I know, Finn. I'm just… well, not talking to him."

He frowns in disbelief, but she's not getting an argument from him. Rachel suddenly loses her half-smile and snaps her fingers as her tone of voice suddenly gets so bossy, it spooks him. "_You_'re calling Kurt!" She points a finger at him.

"What?"

She carries on like he hasn't even spoken. "You call him and ask him about my spare keys. I'm sure he'll pick up the phone 'cause he sent me another text two minutes ago."

"And why should _I_ call him about _your_ keys?"

"Oh, come on, Finn! You were going to give me a ride back to the theater during a freaking storm just seconds ago! It's a lot easier if we just find the keys, right?"

"I-I don't have a car actually. I did, but I sold it. Anyway, I can always pay for your cab."

She rolls her eyes. "Look, please, Finn, would you mind calling Kurt and asking him about my keys? _Please_?"

Now, that's something he never knew how to deal with: pleading Rachel. Add wet to that. He knows he will surrender to pleading wet Rachel. In response to her request, he shakes his head and pulls out his phone. "Fine."

She squeals and claps and it's so Rachel-ish he just has to smile. Finn dials and soon speaks to his step-brother. "Hey, dude."

Kurt's voice carries through the speaker. "Hello, Finn! I must ask you that before anything else. Have you seen Rachel? I've trying to talk to her since forever and she doesn't return my calls or answer my messages. Me and her hand an argument and… Anyway, I'm beginning to worry!"

Finn looks at her with a bored expression. She should just talk to Kurt already. "Ok, Kurt. Chill. She's right here in front of me."

Kurt sighs. "Well, that's a relief. I was picturing the most horrifying images."

"I bet you were."

"Let me talk to her."

He covers the phone. "He wants to talk to you." It feels really, really ridiculous to pull off the carrier pigeon like they are all 12 or something.

But Rachel's not talking to Kurt. Not now, anyway. She just nods and mouths Finn to go ahead. He rolls his eyes. Again. "Listen, man, she won't talk to you. But you can really help us out here by telling me where the hell her spare key is. Rachel's all wet and she's locked out…"

"Why on earth is she all wet, Finn? What did you do to her?"

He thinks about hanging up; he really would but her lips are still purple and he knows she needs to go home and put on some dry clothes. And there's no way he's letting her take a shower while he is in the apartment, because that would be, to say the least, reckless. So, he just takes a deep breath and tries to get Kurt to tell him where the fucking keys are. "It's a storm out there. She forgot her keys somewhere."

"Oh. And she's maintaining her grounding decision?"

"Her what? Whatever, she's not talking. Apparently."

"Then, she's just gonna have to sleep in the hall. And don't you dare sleep with her!"

This is just annoying. Finn rubs his face, turns away from Rachel and whispers in the phone, gritting his teeth. "Listen, man, I know she must be mad at you about me and all, and I really hope you guys make up and stuff. But, right now, she's wet, I mean, soaked. She's shivering so much she's going to cause an earthquake and she looks _pissed _and upset. So, if you could just, please, help me out here…"

It takes a few seconds for Kurt to answer. "Fine", he hears Kurt say. "It's inside the cat kettle in the kitchen."

"Inside a kettle? Really?"

"Yes. Now, send her home."

"I will. Thanks."

Rachel is anxious. Finn turns to her. "So?" she asks.

"It's in the kettle."

"Which one?" She runs to the kitchen.

"The cat one!" He yells from where he stands.

Seconds later, she's back and looking triumphant with a bunch of keys hanging from an acrylic disk with the face of Liza Minelli printed on it. She smiles brightly and he grins back at her."Never thought about looking inside the cat kettle, huh?" He asks.

She smiles softly. "No, it didn't occur to me. But we've all learned that Kurt is a good keeper, even though we need him around to retrieve our belongings when we need to." Rachel approaches him, looking -he's not quite sure-, regretful, maybe. She bites her lips. He's not sure of what to do.

**xxx**

"I'm sorry about the way I acted the other day…" She walks towards him and touches his hand. It used to be so easy to be around him, now she just doesn't know how to behave. And he was probably waiting for her to snap something back at him, because when she touches him, he looks like he's choked on a pea.

He raises his brows and she's not sure if it's a good or a bad thing, but he suddenly starts to give her one of his lopsided smiles, and she knows _that_ is a good thing. "It's okay, Rach. We were both surprised, that's all."

She just smiles a little. "What are you doing in New York, anyway?"

She feels like he's struggling with the answer, but he soon speaks."I'm a marketing manager at this company in Ohio, Souper Foods, that produces, uh, soup, mostly. But we're expanding and the C.E.O. decided to set up an office here, since most of our business comes from New York. And I was assigned to it."

Marketing Manager? Finn Hudson a corporate executive; who would have known? Of course it's soup business, but it's still surprising. And soup can be great, in its own way. "Wow!" She mutters. "That explains why you're all dressed up."

He looks down, smiling shyly. "I don't really like the dressing up; always thought it's weird, but I'm pretty happy with the job itself."

"Come on! You always looked good in a suit!"

And suddenly, it's awkward again. He smiles at her, but she knows she's been _beaming_ about the way he always looked so good wearing a tie. It's all a little embarrassing.

"I should just go and take a shower and an aspirin, anyway. Thanks for the towel and for finding my keys... And, well, I guess I'll see you around."

"Yeah, I guess you will."

She nods curtly and turns to go.

"Hey, Rachel."

She turns around again.

"Kurt wants to talk to you. I think you should call him."

She really wants to tell him that he doesn't get a say on what she should or shouldn't do, but she's just too cold and tired for it. She just smiles lightly. "Thanks again, Finn."

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><p><strong>Reviews are love!<strong>


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N: **Hey, everyone! Once again, thank you so much for reviewing this! You have no idea how happy it makes me. :) Major thank you to _**wood-u-like-2-no **_for the awesome beta work and the awesome ideas! Hope you all enjoy this. For those wondering why they broke up, I promise I'll explain that soon.

**Disclaimer: **Don't own Glee or any of its characters. They're all Fox and Ryan Murphy property. This is just for fun!

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><p><strong>Chapter 2<strong>

Finn's plane lands on JFK airport at 6:32 am.

His eyes are slightly blurry, thanks to the three hours of sleep he had in total. He's got to take care of a million and one things and it's a Monday, which isn't the most sympathetic day of the week. He misses home already because it was such a fun weekend, but he's excited; soon, everything in NYC will be sorted out and he's pretty sure he'll get used to living in the big city eventually. As he gets in line to grab a taxi, he thinks that, for right now, traffic jams would top his list of most annoying things on the planet.

Fifteen minutes later, he finally gets in a cab. He texts him mom, telling her he's already safe on the ground. Carole always seems to be cool about him flying to and from home (he's done that for a few years now because of his job), but she just dreads airplanes. Now, his flights will be more often, so he tries his best to calm her down. She's such a super-caring mom, she's even made him a grocery list and packed him a cook book, because she thinks he'll get fat and develop heart problems from eating unhealthy food in NYC. Finn thinks it's cool of her to have given him the book; he's not a chef, but he can manage the basics, even if he isn't in love with cooking.

Finn takes a look at the grocery list his mom made him for shopping after work. Yeah, his mom is awesome and caring, which is great until she decides to change his eating habits when he's already 29. How is he supposed to throw away almost three decades of broccoli dislike? Broccoli _is_ disgusting. Steamed broccoli is even _more_ disgusting. It's like eating little moist bushes. No, he won't be eating broccoli, so he crosses it off from the list. Actually, he could cross off about half of the list. It's not like he's eating that much green, anyway. He'll leave the fruits, though. He likes fruits. He knows adults are supposed to be role models, but, man, he draws his line at vegetables. Finn writes beer and Doritos down on the paper.

It takes less time than he would think to get to Kurt's building, which is a blessing since NYC traffic is always a bitch. He may _never_ get used to it.

Finn was supposed to make it to work straight from the airport, but he forgot to pack this document folder, so now he's back at the apartment. This will probably result in him being late, but he'll make it quick. He can always work late to make up the time.

He hurries up the stairs with his carry-on luggage and almost stumbles on the doormat, when he bends to catch the paper. He runs across the apartment in a few steps and goes straight to the bedroom to leave his luggage and get the folder. He finds it's really funny that he hadn't realized Kurt had a carpet on the corridor.

Wait, Kurt _doesn't_ have a carpet on the corridor.

Finn turns around and realizes he's left a trail of water footsteps and the whole corridor is wet. He blinks and focuses his sight. The corridor is definitely wet, like _really_ wet. But why? Is there a leak somewhere?

Fuck, he'd better get it dry immediately. He has no clue at all of where the not-so-nice towels are because _nothing _in this place seems 'not-so-nice', so he grabs a dark blue one that shouldn't show the stains so much. Besides, it's not like Kurt's watching him or something, unless Kurt's got a hidden camera. Nah, he wouldn't. That doesn't stop Finn from checking the ceiling corners just in case, though.

He proceeds to dry up the flooring with the towel, but even he can tell something is off. He steps a little harder and the wooden tile makes this muffled shriek, as if he's treading on a sponge or something. _That's new. Was it doing that on Friday? _He thinks to himself silently. After a bit of thinking, he comes to the conclusion that, no, the flooring wasn't acting weird on Friday, so this leak thing must be some kind of weekend prank on him.

And, then, it just hits him.

It was Friday, he was trying to get hot water out of the sink's faucet and nothing would work. So, he opened this valve. He ignored the note, in Kurt's handwriting, tacked to the wall with blue tape. "DO NOT BY ANY MEANS OPEN THIS VALVE. THANK YOU."

He opened it. The hot water ran. It was glorious. Then, he forgot to close it.

He forgot to close it.

He _forgot to close_ it.

_**He forgot to close it.**_

"Fuck! Fuck! _Fuck_!" He rubs his face with his hands.

Could it be possible that he'd just fucked up Kurt's floor by opening a harmless valve? He goes to the bathroom and closes the goddamn thing. There's water dripping from it and the floor is also soaked in there. And he's so dead. He's been living in his brother's apartment for one freaking _week _and he's already screwed it all up. He can't believe it. He's _so fucking_ dead.

After calling his boss to let him know he'll be late due to a leak in the apartment, he sits on the arm of the couch and stares blankly at the window. What should he do? Calling Kurt is just out of question, because Kurt will manage to kill him through the phone. He thinks he could buy this nice red rug (or whatever fancy name Kurt calls red) and display it beautifully on the corridor. Yeah, he could do it, but then it'd get mouldy and spongy and the floor would crumble to wet wooden pieces. And then Kurt would kill him anyway. Jesus, he can't believe his own luck. He's never had to deal with this kind of household issue. He's pretty awful at handling household issues in general, actually. He would always call his mom whenever he had a problem at his own place. Maybe he could call his mom? But then she would blab it to Burt, who would blab it to Kurt, who would kill him. He squeezes his eyes shut. There doesn't seem to be any way to escape Kurt's fury. Unless…

He sits straighter on the arm of the couch as a sudden thought occurs to him.

"Rachel!"

He falls back down a few seconds later. No. He can't go to Rachel with his problems. It's not like she's his friend, anyway. Like ten years later, he knocks on her door asking for housing solutions? She'd probably just shut it in his face.

But it's not like he knows anyone here. He numbers the people he knows in New York; his secretary, three coworkers and Rachel. Five people. And he can't call Janet, the secretary, because that would be ridiculous. He'll _have_ to go with Rachel. She lives next door and she knows Kurt. It'll be the mother of all weird situations, but that's all he's got. Gah, who cares? She's a girl, she's smart and she's Rachel. She always fixes things. He'll talk to her.

**xxx**

"Hey, babe. I'm leaving." Jared kisses Rachel gently on her forehead. She turns in bed and struggles to open her eyes.

"Already? It's dawn."

He chuckles. "It's not. It's time for me to get to work. I left coffee for you in the machine, okay?" She mutters an affirmative response. Jared smiles and leans to kiss her on more time. "Enjoy your day."

"I will…", she turns in bed.

She hears Jared locking the door and tries to sleep a little more, but fails. It took almost a whole week and a lot of acetaminophen for her headache to completely go away, but now she can't feel a single trace of pain and that in itself is enough to make her feel excited about the day. Also, she's had quite an enjoyable night with her boyfriend. When her alarm goes off, Rachel's already up on her way to the kitchen. She looks at her calendar. She knows today is her day off, but she just wants to make sure of it. During summer, her days off are all marked with little yellow shiny suns. She'll do some shopping today.

She goes to the door to get her paper, but backs off. Last week, she bumped into Finn every single day while picking up her paper and each time it was more awkward than the other, not to mention the storm episode. It's just, you know, _weird_, having to say good morning to your high school sweetheart a decade later. She hasn't seen him through the weekend, though, and she thinks that maybe he just abandoned the idea of living in Kurt's apartment. It's a comforting thought, actually.

Then, the doorbell rings. Rachel thinks it could be one, the old lady on the second floor (who's never got enough sugar in her pantry); or two (her favorite), a carrier bringing a huge box of vegan chocolates from Jared. She heads to her bedroom to get in her robe. The doorbell rings again. Twice.

"I'm coming!" she yells. God, it's like 8 in the freaking morning. What's wrong with these people?

Rachel looks through the peephole and sees Finn. That's both unexpected and frustrating (she had high hopes it'd be a box of chocolate). She combs her hair with her hands before unlocking the door, leaving a crack open. He looks panicky, which instantly causes her to worry a bit. "Is everything okay, Finn?"

"I'm sorry. Did I wake you up?"

"Not really. Is there something wrong?" she opens the door entirely.

He hands her the paper, holds the doorframe with one hand and looks at her cautiously. "I think I need your help."

"My help? What happened? Are you okay?"

"No, I am. I am. It's just that I may… I may have, like, ruined Kurt's floor."

She clasps the robe collar with one hand and squeezes her eyes closed. "What exactly did you do?"

He's looks so ashamed, it's cute. And she's embarrassed at actually thinking her ex-boyfriend still looks cute.

"I think it's a water leak, because the corridor floor is making all these squishy sounds and…"

Before he concludes, she already knows what happened and comes out into the hallway to peer inside Kurt's door. "Did you, by any chance, open the valve in the bathroom? The one that has a _huge_ sign above it, begging the reader not to touch it?"

He looks at her sheepishly."I might have…"

"You _might _have?"

Now he just looks like a puppy that fell off a truck. "The hot water wasn't running!" He whines a bit.

And that's so _Finn_, she would actually smile if the whole thing wasn't so stupid. Why didn't he read the note? She swallows her smile and talks. "It's because it _doesn't. _Not on the sink, anyway. And if I may ask, why would you want hot water in the summer?"

"I can't brush my teeth with cold water."

She really doesn't know when he developed sensitive teeth in the last decade, but it's not like she'll be asking now.

"What's wrong with the valve?" He asks.

Rachel shrugs. "We don't know. Kurt keeps saying he'll fix it, but hasn't gotten around to it yet. I think he wants to see if Burt can do it for free or something." She frowns a little. "Why didn't you just read the note?"

"I did!"

"And you opened it anyway?"

She thinks he may roll her eyes at her because she _is_ acting a little annoyingly, but really, that wasn't very smart. She continues. "I think there's a crack in the pipe and it leaks into the floor. How long have you left it running?"

"The weekend?"

He has _got_ to be _kidding _her! To know the floor is making squishy sounds is not exactly a refreshing thought in itself. She tries not to panic because she knows if she does he'll panic even more. "The weekend? Okay, well…may I take a look at it?"

Rachel leaves her _Times_ inside her apartment, then walks to Kurt's door and goes in.

**xxx**

Finn's not exactly sure whether it was a good idea to go to Rachel. She's obviously concerned about it and everything, but she doesn't sound like she's, you know, _comfortable_. He isn't either, if that's any consolation for her. He just really hopes that she will have some brilliant idea like she often does and he won't be as screwed as he thinks he is right now.

He walks with her to the corridor as if they were heading to a crime scene. She's wearing puffy pink slippers and she starts jumping very lightly on the floor. "You were right, Finn. It is making squishy sounds. You're just going to have to replace the flooring, I think."

"All of it?" He wonders how much will it cost. It's not a huge area; there aren't any big areas in Kurt's apartment, but it'll still cost a lot. Do they have to tell a landlord? Will he be pissed? Will he kill him again after Kurt kills him first?

"Well, all of the corridor at least. You could have told me before…"

"I just got back from Ohio, like, a couple of hours ago and realized the floor was wet and looking weird. Will the landlord kill us? Will Kurt?"

He's pouting and she's even more annoyed because, _again_, he looks cute and adorable when he does that. She shakes her head slightly."I don't know. What were you planning to do?"

"Uh… cover it up with a rug?"

"You're kidding, right?"

"Well…"

"I think you'll just have to tell Kurt."

He shudders at the mention of "tell Kurt". If he wanted that, he would've called him right away and not rung her doorbell. "No! No, Rachel! Please, let's not include Kurt in this. Please. We're finding another way. He'll kill me."

"It's his apartment, Finn. Really, if you don't tell him, I'll just have to do it myself."

He can't believe it. Is it possible that she had gone bipolar or something? Because she had been treating him very nicely last week (all things considered) and now she just clearly wants to fuck up his relationship with his step-brother. He wants nice Rachel back; nice Rachel who was at least cordial in the morning and said "Hello" politely and not the bipolar one who wants to rat him and get him murdered by his brother in the process. "Are you guys speaking yet? You and Kurt?"

"Almost."

"Almost?" he shakes his head. "You know he's gonna kill me 'cause I ignored the stupid sign, right?"

"Clearly the sign is not _stupid_", she points at the spongy flooring.

He really hoped she would think of a way to fix this _without_ telling Kurt. Rachel knows how touchy Kurt is with decorations and stuff. The flooring was probably picked to go with the couch that goes with the curtains that go with the lamps and so on. Maybe she just hates him? Do girls may hate their ex-boyfriends just because they're their exes? Maybe that's the case. "Do you hate me or something, Rachel? For moving in and…"

"Of course I don't, Finn. What makes you think something like that?"

He frowns a little. "I don't know. It just seems like you want to see Kurt kick my ass."

She tucks a lock of hair behind her ear and grins a bit. "That would be interesting to see, Finn, but I just think it's my duty to inform a friend about such major incidents as his apartment being flooded during his absence."

He sighs. "I can get it fixed before he comes back."

"Kurt is the most meticulous person I know, and I'm including myself on that list. You can go ahead and deal with it all when he comes back, because he'll so obviously know that something changed, or we can talk to him to find out exactly what this flooring is and who to call for repairs."

Well she's being almost _reasonable_, he'll give her that. But she's also a little nagging. But he's too tired to have an argument about it now, or about anything for that matter. He'll just accept his doomed fate. "Okay, fine, but I'm not talking to him. He'll strangle me through the phone."

"Consider this as me doing you a favor. Besides, I owe you for asking Kurt about my spare key." Before Finn can speak, she goes on. "What kind of flooring do you think it is?"

What kind of question is that? Like he would know the answer. "Uh...wood?"

"I'm thinking white ash or maybe hickory", she says nonchalantly, ignoring his joking remark.

He watches Rachel as she goes to the phone and feels really sorry that they grew so apart that they can't even act naturally around each other anymore. For a second he misses how they used to be. Rachel can be annoying as hell and he always knew that, but she is nice. Super nice. He knows that too. Unless she changed completely over the years, which he doesn't think is the case since she and Kurt are best friends and Kurt hasn't really changed. Well, he _has_, but not in a bad way. She's now dialing the number, holding her robe tightly and still looking kind of sleepy. She doesn't seem to have changed much on the outside; she's still beautiful.

**xxx**

Rachel dials the wrong number and tries again. Finn's looking at her, arms crossed over his chest, sitting on the arm of the couch. He's just being overdramatic, which is kind of news to her. She evidently meant no harm and Kurt's obviously not really going to kill him, not even metaphorically. She really wants to help, but to do so, Kurt _has_ to know. It's his flooring after all. That's not cruel, is it? It doesn't mean she hates Finn or wants him on Kurt's bad side.

Kurt finally picks up and startles her out of her thoughts. "Good morning, Finn."

"Hello, Kurt. This is Rachel, actually."

She hears a honk and hopes the Kurt hasn't just been ran over by a car. "How I _hate_ this reversed traffic! So, Rachel! Is my grounding finally over?"

She fights a laugh. "It will be in an hour."

"In that case, to what do I owe the honor of your early call?

"Well…"

"Wait. What are you doing in my place? Oh, please, don't say you two have already…"

"No! Don't be ridiculous, Kurt."

She glances at Finn, who still looks grumpy, like a boy who's just lost his favorite toy.

"So, what's going on with you two? First, you're all wet looking for your keys with his help, now you're calling from my place in the early morning."

She's simply not getting into that baloney. It's so _Kurt_ of him to try to trap her into these mind games. "Kurt, listen closely. Finn may have inadvertently opened that water valve in your bathroom."

Kurt is in utter silence. Finn's glaring at her worriedly. She thinks about saying something when suddenly Kurt comes back to life. "For how long did he leave it open?"

"Three days at most", she bites her lips and frowns.

"_OH! MY! GOD!_ How bad is it?" Kurt's voice is whiny.

"The whole corridor area is flooded."

She hears a huff, then another honk, then Kurt's voice again. "I'm going to kill him. Put him on the phone, please."

She looks at Finn and smiles a little, reassuringly. "He'll talk to you in just a second. Um… wouldn't it be better if you stopped walking. I'm getting nervous with honks."

"Okay, I have now. I'm still going to kill Finn. Put him on the phone."

She grimaces slightly. "Listen, Kurt. We need to know everything about your flooring and who to call and…"

He doesn't wait for her to finish before he starts complaining to himself again. "Oh, how I loved my corridor. I can't believe he ruined it! I might cry. I'm crying."

"Kurt! Answer me! Is it hickory?" she raises her voice and it's like she snaps him out of his litany.

"No! It's hard maple! I'd never use hickory!"

"Okay, can I call the same guys that had my floor repaired that time Ja…", she looks anxiously at Finn, but he's sighing deeply as if something much more horrible than wet wooden tiles had just happened. "…we dropped black paint on it?"

"Yeah, sure. Fine. I'm gonna go back to sleep now, since this is all probably just a nightmare."

"Don't you want talk to Finn?"

"On second thought, no. I'm just going to throttle him in a few weeks, so, leave him be. Nice talking to you, Rachel." He hangs up without waiting for a reciprocal response.

Rachel sighs and hangs up. She knew Kurt was going to flip about this, but it was such a bad idea to just repair it all behind his back. Kurt _had_ to know. She stands beside Finn.

"Is he gonna kill me?"

"Well, he mentioned it a couple of times..." she smiles lightly. "We weren't expecting him to be filled with joy about it, right? But I don't know if he really absorbed everything. Anyway…" she starts to walk away as Finn remains silent, but, at her movement, he raises his eyes to look at her. She smiles a bit. "I'm gonna go get you the right phone number and everything will be fine soon, okay?" She pats him on his shoulder and he grabs her hand.

His hand is warm and encloses hers clumsily. Touching doesn't seem like a good idea, but she can't manage to draw her hand back. "So, you don't hate me." He asks.

She only curls her hand beneath his and chuckles. "Really, I don't know where you got that from, Finn."

He gives her one of his crooked grins. "Thanks. I don't think I could have told him myself."

Rachel laughs at his nearly childish statement. "It's fine. I'll be right back with the phone number." She finally pulls her hand from his and walks away, but can still feel the familiar warmth of his touch on her skin.

She just wishes that this neighbor thing with Finn wasn't so weird.

* * *

><p><strong>Reviews are love!<strong>


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N: **Hey, guys! Once again, thank you so, so, so much for reviewing and alerting! Makes my day, seriously. All my gratitude to **Leo**, for the always amazing ideas and suggestions. Couldn't do without you. And I hope you all enjoy this one! :)

**Disclaimer: **Don't own Glee or any of its characters. They're all Fox and Ryan Murphy property. This is just for fun!

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 3<strong>

Rachel taps her fingers absently as she awaits Blaine for lunch at Madame Laitue. It's a small vegan restaurant not so far from home that she loves for two reasons; first, because the food is exquisite, and second, because she thinks that any place called Mrs. Lettuce should be taken in a very high regard (such a _lovely_ French name).

Blaine's a little late so she orders a bottle of spring water and takes a look at the restaurant's menu. Rachel thinks she'll probably order the lemon risotto when she sees Blaine walking in her direction. The place is pretty crowded, so he swerves a little from chairs here and there in a very elegant 'Blaine' manner. Rachel stands up to give him a hug and he apologizes for running late. She misses him. She's not as close to Blaine as she is to Kurt, but she loves him almost as much and she hasn't seen him since the week after Kurt left for his session in London.

"Oh, I should hate you, Blaine. So, what, if Kurt's not around, I don't get to see you?" She kisses him on the cheek.

He laughs wholeheartedly as they sit and hangs his satchel on the back of the chair. "You're such a drama queen."

"I am." She grins.

They quickly order lunch because Blaine has to go back to work. He's a divorce attorney, which is ironic since he is a very loving person. But everyone has rent to pay. Blaine is actually working towards becoming an environmental lawyer, but his lack of practical experience in the area is making it hard for him to be able to work on that full-time. He's currently doing some "volunteer" work at a nongovernmental organization, so hopefully he'll be able to protect forests instead of settling custody disputes in a while.

"So, Miss Berry. Tell me everything I don't know yet."

She laughs loudly. "Trust me, you wouldn't want to know everything."

Blaine grins and accepts his Coke that comes in record time. "How's everything with Jared?"

"It's very good," she frowns a bit. "He's been working too many late nights at the agency lately, though. But what can I do? Off-Broadway shows must have pretty posters made by very talented designers, right?" She smiles.

"I'm sure you can still find time to see each other."

"Yeah, we do," she smiles lightly. "How about you? Missing Kurt?"

Blaine sighs. "Everyday. But he sounds very happy when he talks about the classes and everything, so. I'm happy for him." He takes a sip and smirks. "I hear you're having a nice time with your new neighbor."

Rachel knew she would have to talk about that with Blaine and she feels surprisingly comfortable about it. "Ah, don't even get me started. I got _so_ mad at Kurt for not telling me about it."

He raises one eyebrow, looking concerned. "I'm sure he already explained to you how Finn moving here was really short notice and how Kurt wasn't really sure of how you'd react. Plus we all thought you were moving…"

"I know, I know. And I'm not mad anymore. But he could've told me. If it were you, would tell me?"

"Sure. But he _was_ going to tell you. He just wanted to do it in person."

She huffs playfully. "What do you guys think of me anyway? I don't storm out that much anymore."

Blaine chuckles again. "This from the girl who _grounded_ him, right? And I won't say what I think about grounding someone who isn't your kid when you're already 28, because you guys have a pretty peculiar relationship."

"We love each other. That's what matters." She eats a bit of bread and speaks right after swallowing. "Now, tell me, has he actually cried to you about the flooring?"

Blaine breathes in deeply. "Oh, the flooring drama. No, he didn't actually cry, but he whined about it 'til yesterday when Finn called telling that the repair guys were finally at the apartment to have it all fixed."

"Well, maybe now he'll find the time to get that leak repaired. And it wasn't Finn's fault that it took more than a week for the company to come. They bailed on him three times."

Blaine smirks inside his glass.

"It's… I talk to him almost every morning. Our morning schedules kind of _match_ that way and I asked…" She sees him smirking. "Why am I even explaining myself to you like that?"

"I didn't say a word."

She raises her eyebrows. He might not have said it, but he was probably assuming things about her and Finn. Or else he wouldn't have smirked like that. Should she just tell him about the brilliant idea she had this morning? Maybe not. No, she's not telling. Her thoughts are interrupted by the waitress as their food arrives and Rachel smiles again. "I love this food."

"Rachel?"

"Yes?" She chews on her risotto.

"Is everything alright?"

"Sure. Why?"

"You just gave me a guilty look a minute ago."

"What guilty look? I'm not…"

"Eyes wide, biting your lip and looking through me."

Had she really done all that just by _thinking_ about telling him something? She places her fork and knife on her plate. "Okay, fine. Just, please, promise me you won't go rubbing things in my face."

Blaine shakes his head in what seems to be a little amusement and a little disbelief. "I promise. What did you do?"

That's a great question, she thinks. Rachel takes a breath. "Finn's spending the night at my place. Actually, a couple of nights."

It seems a little worse when she says it out loud, and Blaine actually grimaces. "Spending the night? Wait, you mean, as in inside your apartment?"

"Yes."

"May I ask why?"

"It's not as bad as it sounds, okay? I ran into him this morning and he was leaving to find a hotel, because in order to repair the floor, the workers used some kind of varnish that smells toxic inside the apartment. I actually can't believe he could spend the last night in there without having to be taken to the hospital to get his lungs transplanted or something. Of course, he just ignored the repair company warning not to be inside the house for at least three days…"

"And you volunteered your own apartment to be his hostel for the next two nights."

"I did."

"Okay, so I have to ask…is Jared okay with it?"

"I…" she frowns and bites her bottom lip.

"You didn't tell him, did you? Rachel, didn't you learn anything in high school about keeping secrets from your significant other?"

"He wasn't going to be okay with it." She throws her hands in the air a little and sighs. "He's a little jealous, you know. I haven't even told him Finn was my boyfriend. He thinks Kurt's brother is just someone I went to high school with."

Blaine shakes his head again, and now she knows it's disapproval. "Rachel, I don't think that's very wise of you. Finn's living across your hall now. Maybe you should consider telling Jared."

She sighs because basically he's right. He is most of the time. "I will. I promise. But, really, I just wanted to be nice to Finn and ..."

He points his fork at her and contorts his face, more playfully than accusingly. "You know that's a little beyond nice, Rachel, just saying."

Okay, so she knows it's not _usual_ for women who haven't seen their ex-boyfriends in years to just offer them shelter like they're long-term friends, but it's just… she wanted to be nice to him, okay? She felt this urge and when she realized what exactly she had done he had already accepted.

"Well, I can't let him sleep on the streets! It's New York! Where is he gonna find a hotel room for less than 100 dollars a night?"

"I see your point. And it's okay that you're trying to help him, really. You guys should get along, and there's nothing wrong with that. But I think Finn can take care of himself."

"You're rubbing it in my face, just so you know." He laughs while she continues. "And it's not that big of a deal, really. I'm pretty sure he's got a girlfriend anyway."

Blaine stops chewing, then he chews fast and swallows. "What makes you think that?"

Rachel shrugs. "When he accepted my… offer, he told me it would only be for two nights, because then he was flying to Lima for the weekend to be with his 'special girl'." She uses air quotes around the two words before sighing again. "Do you know if he's dating anyone?"

Blaine's eyes seem to look far away for a moment before he turns back to her with a slight smirk. "Does it matter? You seem pretty happy with Jared, right?" He quickly looks back at his meal and continues eating.

"Yes, that's true. Well, if Finn is dating someone, it must be pretty recent. Kurt never mentioned anything." Rachel nods, pouting a little. It's just so obvious that Finn would have a girlfriend. He's a very attractive _and_ successful executive now. It figures.

Blaine snaps her out of her thoughts. "Regardless, I just really think you should talk to Jared about it. Maybe not the whole slumber party, but, you know, filling him in about yours and Finn's history might be wise. It shows him that you trust him."

She smiles. "What would I do without you, Blaine Warbler?"

**xxx**

Rachel's given Finn the emergency key to her apartment because he's supposed to get home much sooner than her. He thinks about drinking a few beers before heading there to gain time, but figures it wouldn't exactly be nice if he spends _any_ time inside her house smelling like booze. So he drops the idea and goes back to the building after eating a sandwich at the local deli.

He gets to Rachel's home and tries to be as subtle as possible. He even makes an effort to overcome the new flooring toxic smell once more and goes to Kurt's to have a shower. He kind of regrets agreeing to sleep at her place at this moment. Finn knows they're doing fine by now (by fine he means short conversations about bland things whenever they meet), but they're not _friends_. Now he's spending the night _inside_ her apartment and he feels like he's going to get his Master's Degree in Awkwardness if he keeps making thoughtless decisions like that.

Anyway, her couch is small, but he's okay with it. And he's really glad he won't have to spend money in a hotel. He'll manage the weirdness somehow. Finn watches sports on TV for hours until, near midnight, he hears the sound of keys on the door and promptly sits straight. He kicks the coffee table, though, because he'll never lose his clumsiness apparently, and it almost knocks the table over, scattering three of the little bibelots Rachel has on it. He tries to catch them but fails and luckily enough none of them end up broken because they all fall on her fluffy rug.

She hears everything, anyway, and when she enters the living room her brows are arched and he's holding three little pink elephants in his hands. "Finn? Is everything okay?"

He thinks he _has_ to stop ruining other people's houses. It's getting really embarrassing. "Yeah, I'm sorry. I kicked your table and these," he shows her the pink elephants. "fell off. But they're not broken." He stands up and places the three ornaments again on the table. "Sorry."

She actually bursts into laughter. He laughs a little too, because he's not sure of what to do and her laughter was always infectious. She stops shortly after though and sighs. "It's really comforting to know that some things never change, you know?"

He grins. "I had hopes I'd grow up to be less awkward, actually."

She leaves her keys on a round polka-dot yellow key holder. "I'm sorry about the couch. It's really small for you.'

"Don't worry. Really. I'm completely comfortable with it. Before you got in, I was almost asleep", he lies. The couch is comfortable if you're just sitting and relaxing, but it is small. He thinks his back will probably hurt in the morning, anyway.

"You're twice as big as the couch, Finn."

He looks down at the couch over his shoulder. Yeah, he is roughly twice as big. "Really, Rach. I'm fine. Don't worry."

She shrugs a little. "Do you want to eat something? I'll just drink my juice, but if you want to, I can make you something."

"Oh, no, please, I'm okay. But thanks. I had dinner before coming hom... here."

"Okay, then. Just, you know, make yourself comfortable."

He smiles and sits again on the couch. He can hear the noise of pots, pans and glasses being maneuvered in the kitchen. The fridge opens and closes a few times. Then, minutes later she comes with a huge glass filled with a light green liquid that actually looks completely disgusting. He just _has_ to ask. "What is _that? _Juice?"

She chuckles. "It is. We have green apples, carrot, cucumber, kale and mint. Want some? It's actually pretty sweet."

_Jesus Christ_. Broccoli would be _easy_ compared to this green fest. He grimaces. "No, thanks."

She chuckles a bit. Once again, he feels sorry they had grown apart. He wants to catch up and talk to her. He _really_ wants to talk to her. So, he starts with something easy. "How was your show, today? Kurt told me you're in an off-Broadway production…"

She smiles and her face lights up a bit when she starts talking about it. "That's right. It's not 'Funny Girl' or 'Wicked', but I really like it."

"I'm sure you'll make it to Broadway, anyway." He says, because he really _is_ that sure.

"I auditioned, but…"

"You will, I know." She smiles when he says that. "What is your role like in the show?"

"I'm the lead." She says proudly and tucks a lock of hair behind her year.

She's so obviously the lead. He smiles. "Of course. You couldn't be anything else."

She laughs. "You're sweet, Finn. But, anyway, the show is, in fact, doing great. So, maybe, we'll move to Broadway or that'll help me land a role on Broadway." She finishes her juice with two big gulps.

"I'm rooting for you."

She smiles again, and he feels like talking more, but she gets up. "Okay. So, I'm gonna go to bed. If you need anything, just let me know. And help yourself to anything in the kitchen, okay? Don't be shy."

"Sure. Thanks. Don't worry, though."

She walks away, then comes back a few steps. "Do you want me to turn off the lights?"

"Yeah, sure. Thanks."

He turns off the TV and tries to get comfortable on the couch. It's really hard though. He just doesn't fit. He manages to find a less uncomfortable position and tries not to move.

Finn normally bumps into Rachel on rehearsal days. Today is performance night and she's not dressed like she's been to the gym (he finds that disturbingly sexy, by the way). She's looks pretty today, wearing a green summer dress, and it's like he was watching a movie and she's one of those beautiful and talented, yet not completely appreciated, actresses who comes home looking tired and the exhaustion somehow makes them look prettier. He discovers that to be even more disturbing than when she's just plain hot in work-out pants.

Then he hears her singing in the shower and that's even _more_ disturbing than Rachel in tight pants or summer dresses. He tries to get his mind numb so that he won't listen to her voice, but he can't help but wonder if this is what it'd be like if they'd stayed together. She'd come home, he'd be waiting for her watching a basketball game and then they'd have a late dinner together and he'd listen to her singing in the shower before they'd cuddle in bed or make love.

The scariest part of all is that the idea seems kind of _familiar_.

Fortunately enough, he's tired from the previous sleepless night and it doesn't take him long to drift off. Before he reaches deep sleep, though, he comes to the realization that he can't do breakfast with her. Breakfast is way too intimate.

So, in the morning, he runs to work before she wakes up; leaving a thank you note and saying he'll be back at night. He regrets being so impersonal to someone who's being so nice, but he just can't do happy-good-morning pancakes with Rachel. That'd be weird and confusing and _appealing_. He manages to focus on his work for the rest of the day and finally feels less ridiculous about everything.

**xxx**

Rachel thinks that maybe today he'll be sleeping when she gets home, so she tries not to make too much noise when she opens the door this time around. When she enters the apartment, though, she finds Finn sitting on the couch.

"Hey. Thought you'd be sleeping. I tried not to scare you this time."

He gives her that lopsided smile. "I had a busy day at work and I couldn't sleep. But I'll just turn the TV off and-."

She cuts him off. "No! No, Finn. Just, really, I want you to feel comfortable. Don't worry."

"No, it's fine. I have to sleep anyway. My flight is around noon."

She thinks about his mentioning of a special girl and wonders what she looks like. Blonde and pretty like Quinn, maybe? Oozing sex like Santana? Rachel tries to maintain casual talk as she heads to the kitchen. "Want something to eat today?"

"You'll be drinking that leaf thing again?"

She laughs, because he can make vegetable dislike sound cute. "I will. It's too late for me to eat solids. Sometimes, I do but when I can, I try to just drink something. Join me?"

"No, thanks."

She gets back from the kitchen pretty quickly to see he hasn't turned off the TV and is in fact zapping through channels. "Is it stressful trying to sell soup?" she asks. It sounds like it's coming out of nowhere, but she really does want to know about it.

"You make it sound like I have a cart on the street."

She chuckles, then frowns. "Sorry, that's not what I meant."

He grins. "I know. Well, sometimes it is, like right now. They want to increase production and sales in a _big _way, so I'm working on a plan for a national marketing campaign."

"Sounds fun."

"It can be."

She really wants to know more about his work since it _does_ sound fun, but his cell buzzes. He gazes at it and frowns, looking very concerned. "I'm sorry. I gotta take this."

"Sure." She goes back to the kitchen to give him some privacy.

"Is everything okay?" She hears him speak and he sounds worried, but soon he chuckles, so she just assumes it is his mysterious girlfriend on the line. She's sure he has a girlfriend, and she instinctively wrinkles up her nose at the thought. It's not like she thinks he has to tell her, really, and it's not any of her business since she's keeping the Jared information from him as well.

Rachel wants to be sure about her assumptions, though. She knows it is totally wrong but she still tries to eavesdrop on the conversation. It's hard, because he's speaking softly, but she _can_ hear some magic words. "Sweetheart", "Baby" and even "I love you, too."

_Jackpot. _

He _so_ has a girlfriend and is _so_ keeping it from her. She actually huffs and then thinks she's done with the Finn drama for the day. She chooses to go to her bedroom and tries to cross the living room quickly, but he's already trying to end the discussion.

"Okay, Honey. Go back to sleep. I'll see you tomorrow."

Rachel stops for a second when she sees this huge smile on his face. She hates to admit it and she really doesn't know why she's feeling like this, but it's somehow nauseating to know another woman makes him _so_ happy. And she's annoyed about it all, even though she has no right to be.

She wants to go to bed.

"Good night, Finn," she smiles.

He smiles back, still goofily. "Nite, Rach. Thanks."

She thinks about the phone call a little, but soon comes to the conclusion that that it's none of her business. Plus, she was the one who invited him inside her house, so who can blame him?

When she wakes up to a cloudy Saturday morning, he's no longer on the couch. She's relieved since she knows breakfast with him would be completely awkward. She just sighs resignedly and starts planning the day, which will include a very welcomed lunch with her loving boyfriend.

It's past nine in the morning when her doorbell rings. She's very surprised (pleasantly, but she _won't_ admit that), that it is Finn. "Hey! I thought you'd left for Lima already."

He's holding a brown bag with both hands like it's some fragile crystal and she invites him in.

"Sorry about leaving like that. I didn't want to wake you up." He looks briefly in the kitchen, nods, then speaks again. "I went out for a walk and later checked on the apartment to pack some clothes. Things are almost okay there now; not nearly so toxic." He grins and she smiles in return.

"It'll probably be good by Monday," she says.

"So, I wanted to thank you for being so nice to me and all. It's not like you _had_ to."

"Please, don't worry. I'm positive you'd have done the same for me."

"Yeah, sure. I-I bought you something, though. To thank you. Here." Finn hands her the entire brown bag and it seems a lot bigger in her hands. She tentatively reaches for the contents and takes out a small clay vase with rosemary planted in it. She's not really sure why he'd buy her rosemary, mostly because she's certain that he doesn't know _what_ rosemary is.

"The lady said it's rosemary," he tells and she arches her brows in awe. "I realized you have this small green garden in your kitchen and I figured it's an herb garden and not only ornamental, 'cause one of the leaves you have there smell like the pizza you used to make and there's mint there too, to make your juice. Anyway, I know you like to cook and you like greens, so I was passing by this little market a few blocks away and they have, like, hundreds of herbs in vases there. So I looked for something that wasn't in your garden. I couldn't remember seeing rosemary there… not that I know what you do with rosemary."

She tries to concentrate on his unexpected use of the word "ornamental", but she just wants to hug him because that's about the sweetest thing on planet Earth for him to be so observant and try to buy something she didn't have. Since she can't throw herself in his arms without turning cuteness into awkwardness, she beams at him instead. "It's very thoughtful of you, Finn. Thank you. I promise to let you try a dish when I cook with it."

She's perfectly happy with her rosemary, and he seems perfectly satisfied with her reaction, until perfectly okay transforms into perfectly weird for them both at the same time.

"Yeah, sure. I'm afraid I have to go but…" he grins at her disarmingly.

Before she can answer, Jared comes through the door that she had left open, and everything freezes for a moment. Her brain stops and it's not until Jared spots Finn and gets a puzzled look on his face that she's prompted out of her surprise. "Jared! You're early."

"I thought it'd be nice to spend more time together." He takes her surprised tone as a welcoming tone and actually kisses her. And Finn's there watching while Jared kisses her. And Finn doesn't (didn't) know about Jared and Jared doesn't know that Finn was ever her boyfriend. And it's all just a complete and utter mess.

And Rachel just wants to disappear.

When Jared finally lets go of her lips –that _endless_ smooch-, she looks nervously at Finn who is still there and looking unpleasantly surprised, pouting almost unnoticeably.

"Uh, hi, I'm Jared Smith. Rachel's boyfriend", Jared and Finn shake hands.

**xxx**

Finn shakes the dude's hand and really doesn't feel like smiling. First thing he thinks is that the guy's name is annoying. Smith is _so totally_ common and doesn't go with Berry. Plus, he said "boyfriend" and it sounded like a horrible word. Still, he tries to be polite. "Finn Hudson. Nice to meet you."

"Finn is Kurt's brother." Rachel says, and she's so nervous her voice is cracking. He wonders if her boyfriend can see that. Finn's not okay with the dude. He looks weird and he's only a little taller than her, like Blaine tall, and there's something about him that he just doesn't like. It's not that he's being overly critical about it (okay, maybe he is being a _little_ critical) but there is something disturbing about the guy. Just like Jesse St. Jerkoff.

"So, you're Kurt's brother. Rachel's mentioned you before."

Mentioned. He's been _mentioned_. Finn arches his brows. So Rachel's got a boyfriend who probably doesn't know much about him. Keeps it from him and lets him sleep at her house. Very nice of her.

"Yeah, I'm Kurt's brother," he says bluntly while casting her an annoyed look. Is it possible that the dude doesn't know he's been Rachel's boyfriend? Maybe it was too painful for Rachel to talk about it. Maybe he meant so little to her he wasn't _worth _the mention. That's a comforting thought. But she has her own life now and doesn't really owe him any explanation. It's just…whatever. He's just mad, even if he _knows _he doesn't have the right to be.

"Nice to meet you!" Jared repeats back to him and pats Finn on the shoulder. Finn smiles a little.

"Finn and I went to high school together, and we used to sing lead in the Glee Club. And now he's moving to New York and staying at Kurt's while looking for his own apartment. Right, Finn?" Her voice is worried and kind of robotic.

Finn nods. "Yeah, that about sums it up, Rachel."

"So, you'll be living by yourself? In New York?" Jared asks with surprise.

"No, my girl is coming once I'm settled." That didn't come quite the way he wanted, and he casts another look at Rachel. It seems, however, that she already knew.

"Ah, so you have a girlfriend," Jared seems suddenly relaxed.

"Yes. Finn's got a girlfriend." She parrots Jared, though her tone seems hard and almost accusing.

"Is she from Lima too?" Jared asks with a smile before turning to his girlfriend. "Bet you know her too, Rach."

Finn cuts him off. "No, actually I don't have a girlfriend. I don't have time. I…" He sighs and shrugs a bit. "I have a daughter."

"A daughter!" Jared seems delighted.

"Yeah… Sabrina. She's seven. She'll be living with me here."

Rachel doesn't speak. She just returns his gaze with a look of complete and utter shock.

* * *

><p><strong>As usual, reviews are love! :)<strong>


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